The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1887-09-03
INGEbSOLL on TEMPERANCE.

In speaking to Il jury in a case Ills
v0lving the manufacture OF alcohol,
Col. Robert Ingersoll used the follow
ing eloquent language: 81 am aware
that there is a prejudice against any
man eng lged in the manufacture Of
alcohol. believe that from The time
it issues from the coiled and poison
Gus worm-in the distillery-until it
empties into the hell of death, dis,
honor and crime, it demoralizes ev.
erybOdy that touches it from its source
to where it ends. / do not believe
aly body can contemplate The subject
without becoming prtjndiced To the
liquor crime. All We have to do,
gentlemen, is to think of the wreck
Oh either bank Of the stream of death,
of the suicides, of the insanity, Of the
destitulion, of the little children tug
ging at the weary and faded dress
of weeping and despairing wives ask
ing for bread of the talented men Of
genius that it has wrecked, the men
struggling with imaginary serpent'
produced by this deviIish thing; and
when you think of the jails, the aims
houses, of the asylums, of the prisons
of the scaffolds upon either bank,
do not wonder that every thoughtful
man is preJudiced against this damna
bic stuff called alcohol.
Intemperance cuts down youth il
its vigor, manhood in its strength
and old age in its weakness. L
breaks the fathers heart. bereaves thu
doting mother, extinguishes natura
affection, grasses conjugal love, blows
out filial attachments, blasts parenta
affection. and brings down mour
ing age in sorrow to the grave
1t produces weakness, no
strength death, not life. l
makes wives widows; children orphans
parents childless, and all of them pau
pers and beggars. 1t feeds rheuma
tism, invites gut, imparts pestilenc,
and embraces consumption. 1t GOV
ers the land with idleness, misery ant
crime. 1t fills your jails, supple
your aim houses, and demands you
asylums. 1t engenders controversies
fosters quayrels and cherishes riots
1t crowds your penitentiaries and fur
Hishes victims to your scaffoIds. 1t i
the life blood Of the gambler, the ele
ments Of the burglar, the prop of tn
highwayman and the support Of tn
midnight incendiary. 1t countenan
! ces the liar, respects the thief, esteem
the blasphemer. 1t violates obliga
tions, reverences fraud and hOnors in
fanny. 1t defames benevolence, hate
love, scorns virtue and ISLANDERS limo
cence. 1t incites the father to butch
er the helpless offspring, helps the hus
band to massacre his wife, and tn
child to grind the parricidal az.
burns up men, consumes women, de
3 tests life, curses God, denies heaven
3 1t suborns witnesses, nurses perjury
r denies the jury box, and stains tn
judicial ermine, 1t degrades the cit
zen, debases the legislator, dishonol
e the statesmen, and disarms the pat
riot. 1t brings shame. not honol
terror, not safety; dispair, not hop,
misery, not happiness; and with tn
: manevolence of fend it calml
f surveys Its frightful desolation, an
unsatis6ed with its havoc, it poison
r felicity, kills peace, ruins moral
blights confidence, Stays reputation
Q and wipes out national honor, the
curses the world and laughs at its ruiz
1t does all that, and more-it murde
the seul. 1t is the sum of villianie
9 the father of all crime, the mother
denominations, the devils best frier
u and Gods worst enemy.
10